This time last year, most of the talk going into the 2013-14 University of Memphis’s basketball team season revolved around the four senior guards – Joe Jackson, Chris Crawford, Geron Johnson and Michael Dixon Jr. All were entering their senior seasons, and there was a lot of excitement and buzz with four high-caliber guards primed to make a postseason run.
However, despite some nice wins here and there against the likes of Louisville, SMU and Oklahoma State, the four guards never quite meshed together as originally hoped for, and Memphis was eliminated in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament by the Virginia Cavaliers.
Although their time together on the court wasn’t as successful as they would’ve hoped, their production from last year will be sorely missed.
According to sports-reference.com, the four guards were responsible for 838 of the Tigers 1,328 points last year (points scored and points from assists). In other words, 63 percent of Memphis’s offense production last season.
Jackson led the way with 277 points produced, followed by Dixon (214), Johnson (191) and Crawford (156).
Not surprisingly, the four guards were also among the team’s leaders in usage rate, an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player when he is on the floor. Dixon led the way at 24 percent, followed by Jackson at 22.6 percent, Johnson at 19.4 percent and Crawford at 16.5 percent.
Although the four guards were used a ton and produced a majority of the Tigers points last season, that doesn’t mean they were efficient in doing so. Of the four guards only Dixon Jr. finished in the top five on the team in terms of true shooting percentage at 60.3 percent. True shooting percentage is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into accounts, 2-pointers, 3-pointers and free throws. Jackson had a true shooting percentage of 54.5 percent, Crawford shot 51.7 percent and Johnson finished last of the four guards with a percentage of just 47.7 percent.
As far as the team’s overall success on the offensive end of the floor, one of the stats to look closely at is a player’s offensive rating, an estimate of a team’s points on the court per 100 possessions with said player on the court. Dixon Jr. had the highest offensive rating with 118.1, Jackson finished second with 115.6, Crawford in third with 105.4 and Johnson in last with 98.1.
As anyone can see, Crawford and Johnson have finished third or fourth in most of the big offensive categories, but their strengths are on the defensive side of the court.
Crawford and Johnson’s defensive ratings, which is an estimated number of points given up by a team per 100 possessions, show their value to the Tigers success last season. Johnson’s defensive rating of 99.8 was the highest among the four guards, with Crawford closely behind in second at 99.9. Dixon Jr. came in third with a 101.3 defensive rating and Jackson last with 103.
For better or worse, that production is gone now, and the Tigers will rely on a new stable of guards and experienced frontcourt to replace last year’s guards’ production.
Forwards Austin Nichols, Shaq Goodwin and Nick King are the most experienced players left over from a season ago. Now, the conversation may be about the three forwards and instead of the four guards.
